Sampling procedure and a radio-indicator study of mercury determination in whole blood by using an AMA 254 atomic absorption spectrometer

A sampling procedure appropriate for the determination of mercury in whole blood was tested by using both inactive controls and a ¹⁹⁷Hg mercury radio-indicator. To exclude the influence of the instrumental device (an AMA 254 single-purpose mercury atomic absorption spectrometer) on the determination of mercury in whole blood, the function of the instrument was checked by using rat blood with metabolised ¹⁹⁷Hg. The measurement procedure was found to be free of errors. However, the study showed that the material used for the sampling vessels is a crucial parameter for obtaining accurate analytical results. The stability of solutions and samples was tested towards polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) vessels. PE displayed a time-dependent increase in the mercury content both in the samples and in the blood control material. The probable cause of this increase was direct contamination from the material of the vessel and/or diffusion of mercury from the environment through the vessel walls related to a strong complexing affinity of the sample matrix. This assumption was confirmed by supplying the vessels with the complexing agent Na₂EDTA (0.05 mol L^–1). Commercial PP vessels for blood sampling (Sarstedt S-Monovette Metall Analytik) did not give rise to statistically significant variations in mercury content in the samples and blood control material over a 30-day period.     

Electrochemical studies and square-wave voltammetric determination of fenofibrate in pharmaceutical formulations

The electrochemical reduction of fenofibrate at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, square-wave voltammetry, and chronoamperometry. Different buffer solutions were used over a wide pH range (3.0–10.0). The best definition of the analytical signals was found in borate buffer (pH 9.0)–tetrabutylammonium iodide mixture containing 12.5% (v/v) methanol at –1.2 V (versus Ag/AgCl). According to cyclic voltammetric studies, the reduction was irreversible and diffusion controlled. The diffusion coefficient was 2.38×10^–6 cm² s^–1 as determined by chronoamperometry. Under optimized conditions of square-wave voltammetry, a linear relationship was obtained between 0.146–4.96 g mL^–1 of fenofibrate with a limit of detection of 0.025 g mL^–1. Validation parameters such as sensitivity, accuracy, precision, and recovery were evaluated. The proposed method was applied to the determination of fenofibrate in pharmaceutical formulations. The results were compared with those obtained by a published high-performance liquid chromatography method. No difference was found statistically.     

Evaluation of the redox properties and anti/pro-oxidant effects of selected flavonoids by means of a DNA-based electrochemical biosensor

Quercetin and rutin as well as catechin and epigallocatechin gallate were investigated, as widely distributed representatives of flavonols and flavanols, respectively, regarding their anti/pro-oxidant properties. The flavonoids are irreversibly oxidized at a dsDNA-modified screen-printed electrode within 0.368 to 0.449 V vs. SHE without binding to DNA. Using the DNA biosensor the detection scheme of a DNA prevention/degradation exploits the [Co(phen)(3)](3+) complex as an electrochemical DNA marker. Antioxidant activity of flavonoids was tested in a model cleavage mixture composed of 5 x 10(-7) mol L(-1) [Cu(phen)(2)](2+) as the catalyst, 1 x 10(-3) mol L(-1) ascorbic acid as the chemical reductant and atmospheric oxygen as the natural oxidant where reactive oxygen radicals are generated. The antioxidant activity increases with the concentration of flavonoids reaching a maximum where pro-oxidative behaviour becomes of importance. The pro-oxidant potency of flavonoids depends on the presence of atmospheric oxygen and follows the order quercetin>rutin>epigallocatechin gallate>catechin.     

Synthesis,characterization and crystal structures of new Zinc(II) and Nickel(II) complexes containing morpholine moiety and their antibacterial studies

The ligand 1,2-dimorpholinoethane (DME) was used to prepare Zn(II) and Ni(II) complexes of the general formulation MLX₂ (L = DME, X = Cl or NO₃). Zinc(II) complex exhibits spectral properties indicative of a distorted tetrahedral geometry, with DME coordinating through two nitrogen atoms and two chlorides completing the tetrahedron. This is in contrast to the six-coordinated, distorted octahedral geometry exhibited by nickel(II) complex of DME when NO₃ was used as counter ions. The X-ray diffraction confirms the structures of two complexes and shows that the ligand coordinates through two nitrogen atoms while the two ether linkages are not involved in complexation, which would have been the case if the morpholine rings were in the boat form. The ligand and related complexes have antibacterial activity against the five Gram-positive bacteria: Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Bacillus cereus NRRL-B-3711, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and Streptococcus pyogenes and also against the three Gram-negative bacteria: Escherichia coli ATCC 11230, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15442 and Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC 70063. The results showed that in some cases the antibacterial activity of the complexes exceeded the one of sulfisoxazole used as a standard.     

Threshold strangeness production in pp interactions

During the actual lectures, features of the COSY-Jülich accelerator were presented, followed by a short summary of ongoing experiments at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY using internal as well as external beams in the range of 45 MeV to 2.5 GeV. Here the research of the COSY-11 collaboration is presented. This °⁰ facility studies the hidden and open strangeness production observing the ν and η′ as well the K⁺Y and K⁺K^? production in the proton—proton interactions at the respective thresholds.     

Photocatalytic Nanoheterostructures and Chemically Bonded Junctions Made by Solution-Based Approaches

While single compound semiconductors were initially used for photocatalysis, combining two compounds to form a heterojunction significantly increases the photocatalysis performance. This review will outline how heterojunctions are superior, explain the different heterostructure architectures assembled from nanoparticles, and discuss the importance of achieving a large and quality contact in the junction, the heterojunction. Reference is made to methods for increasing the charge carrier performance and reducing recombination. Solution-based synthesis approaches, have been selected as the preferred route of manufacture, for the low cost scalability, and ability to combine a larger number of compounds. The main objective of this review article is to provide insight to the range of chemical solution-based methods for forming chemically bonded junction in nanoheterostructures for photocatalysis. Methods include chemical precipitation, impregnation, chemical bath deposition, hot injection, solvothermal, photo-deposition, electrochemical deposition, cation exchange and linker assisted assembly. The synthesis of different photocatalysts is addressed for each synthesis method. Solution synthesis is offered for coupling oxide semiconductors (i.e. TiO₂, ZnO, WO₃, Fe₂O₃, BiVO₄) with other oxides or metal chalcogenide quantum dots or metallic plasmonic nanoparticles.     

A Runge-Kutta method for index 1 stochastic differential-algebraic equations with scalar noise

The paper deals with the numerical treatment of stochastic differential-algebraic equations of index one with a scalar driving Wiener process. Therefore, a particularly customized stochastic Runge-Kutta method is introduced. Order conditions for convergence with order 1.0 in the mean-square sense are calculated and coefficients for some schemes are presented. The proposed schemes are stiffly accurate and applicable to nonlinear stochastic differential-algebraic equations. As an advantage they do not require the calculation of any pseudo-inverses or projectors. Further, the mean-square stability of the proposed schemes is analyzed and simulation results are presented bringing out their good performance.     

Nanosensors having dipicolinic acid imprinted nanoshell for Bacillus cereus spores detection

Molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) as a recognition element for sensors are increasingly of interest and MIP nanoclusters have started to appear in the literature. In this study, we have proposed a novel thiol ligand-capping method with polymerizable methacryloylamido-cysteine (MAC) attached to gold–silver nanoclusters, reminiscent of a self-assembled monolayer and have reconstructed surface shell by synthetic host polymers based on molecular imprinting method for recognition. In this method, methacryloylamidoantipyrine–terbium ((MAAP)₂–Tb(III)) has been used as a new metal-chelating monomer via metal coordination–chelation interactions and dipicolinic acid (DPA) which is main participant of Bacillus cereus spores used as a model. Nanoshell sensors with templates give a cavity that is selective for DPA. The DPA can simultaneously chelate to Tb(III) metal ion and fit into the shape-selective cavity. Thus, the interaction between Tb(III) ion and free coordination spheres has an effect on the binding ability of the gold–silver nanoclusters nanosensor. The binding affinity of the DPA imprinted nanoclusters has been investigated by using the Langmuir and Scatchard methods, and the respective affinity constants (K _affinity) determined were found to be 1.43 × 10⁴ and 9.1 × 10⁶ mol L^?1.